79 - Episode 5: Eh? Lucky? Unlucky?
After the bandits surrendered completely, the Three Idiots captured them and had them lead the way to a nearby base, but────.
"Wow... this is..."
"This is a bit..."
The sight unfolding before them left the Three Idiots, as well as Morgus and Shannon and the others who had come along as victims, speechless.
It was certainly their base. Perhaps it had originally been a small village, as the houses were old but solidly built. However, those huddling together and living there were a group of women and children who appeared to be the bandits' families. They were all uniformly thin, and their desperation was evident. If there had been any treasures to steal, they would have already been sold and converted into food.
Rather than a bandit stronghold, it looked more like a refugee camp without any supplies.
"Honestly... who was it? Who was the brute who suggested we borrow some treasures from a bandit stronghold?"
"It was you!!"
Geoglyph and Later snapped back at the idiot who was looking exasperated with a smug face.
"But what should we do? The original plan has fallen apart, Sensei."
"You're right. Still, look at these children. Every single one of them is skin and bones. If we don't feed them first, people might start dying."
"Hmm... manpower, beautiful girls, money... is it..."
"Hey, Sensei. The princess is thinking about unnecessary things again. That's the kind of thought that eventually leads to violence! S◯X!"
"Let's just leave her for now. I'll pull out all the ingredients I bought with my leader authority. First, we need to set up a soup kitchen and feed them something."
"O-oh. You suddenly stop messing around and get serious whenever children are involved, don't you, Sensei..."
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood for that right now. Besides, 'for children, use the warmed-up cold equation' is my creed, so I won't hold back. Rei, help me with the cooking."
"Got it. Then first, porridge or soup, something gentle on the stomach and nutritious."
"I'll leave the menu to you. Ah, we'll need water too. And we have to do something about the hygiene────"
Leaving Geoglyph, who was busily taking food and cooking utensils out of his storage magic, and Later, who was starting preparations for the soup kitchen, Marianne pondered.
(Hmm... supplies are almost exhausted. Whatever is left won't bring in any money. In that case, other measures...)
Anything of value should have already been sold. There likely aren't any treasures left. If that's the case, the only option left is to sell people. However, even if sold as slaves, they would fetch a pittance in this nutritional state. The men might barely be sellable as labor, but there is little demand for women and children who have wasted away this much. They would be bought for next to nothing as well.
Besides.
(Well, Geo would probably oppose it. And vehemently.)
Marianne thought this as she glanced at the two idiots diligently preparing the soup kitchen.
He had said that in his previous life, he aspired to be a politician because he admired a certain philanthropist. He himself had lost his parents at a young age and had apparently been under the guardianship of that admired person until he reached adulthood, so he cannot abandon children who are particularly destitute.
Just as Marianne's devotion to her own aesthetics had become a landmine, Geoglyph's convictions had also become a landmine. If someone were to step on them, he would likely not hesitate to oppose Marianne and Later.
Personally, Marianne had no objection to selling the bandits or their families. While she felt sympathy for the families, there would be no end to it if she intervened everywhere based solely on pity.
Besides, regardless of the reason, the bandits were the ones who pulled the trigger first. They were simply receiving what they had given. She believed that accepting that was the beautiful way to be, even if it meant involving their families.
That said.
Opposing Geoglyph was not a wise move. It wasn't a matter of winning or losing, but that it would be endlessly tedious. Marianne had lived her previous life using her tongue as a weapon, but against an opponent who had fought the world with the same, she would be at a disadvantage. She wouldn't be talked into anything, and they might end up in a stalemate, but it would be utterly fruitless and a waste of time.
In that case, it would be better to find another solution. Unlike politicians who have limited room to maneuver, the strength of the private sector is its footwork. Fortunately, the pieces to make that blue-sky vision a reality were all present.
"Sorry, but the only things we can offer are weapons and such..."
"The only way is to melt them down and reuse them..."
"They were this destitute..."
Where Marianne turned her gaze, the captured bandit leader────Rubes, with his hands tied behind his back, was having his family gather anything of value.
That said, as could be gathered from the words of Morgus and Shannon, all that came out were farming tools and weapons. There were no coins or jewels that could be quickly converted to cash, and the items that did appear were poorly maintained──── or rather, they were dilapidated, as if there had been no leeway to maintain them. As Morgus said, they would have more value as metal if they were melted down first.
"Originally, we earned a decent living as a prospector guild. But four years ago, the royalty failed a ritual, right? From then on, the veins dried up one after another... Two months ago, the last mine finally closed, and this is the result."
The mining of magic stones, the primary industry of this country, is legally conducted by licensed prospectors. Permissions that were initially held by individuals eventually became guilds in pursuit of efficiency. Rubes had also gathered comrades and family to form a guild, and it seemed he had spent his days diligently mining as a prospector.
However, four years ago, the royalty apparently failed a Dragon Vein control ritual that affected the trend of the mineral veins. It was 'apparently' because there had been no official announcement. But for prospectors like Rubes working on the ground, they would know regardless as the amount of magic stones they could mine decreased day by day.
And two months ago, the veins where magic stones could be mined finally vanished.
"Even so, we were a decent guild. Everyone would want manpower, so I gave settlement money to those who had leads or wanted to go independent and sent them off. Those remaining now are the ones with no leads... and the people and families who followed a fool like me."
At first, they managed because they had savings. But feeding such a large household became difficult, and in an unprecedented depression, finding the next job was not easy. Even if they tried to flee to another country, they had no connections or leads. A single man could have managed somehow, but Rubes had family and subordinates to support. With no way out, he had apparently turned to banditry.
"I don't care what happens to me. But could you please let these people go?"
"Boss!"
"Shut up! ────I'm begging you, sir. Please."
"That is..."
Morgus made a troubled face at Rubes, who remained tied with his hands behind his back, kneeling and rubbing his forehead against the ground.
"Morgus-san. I'll ask too. There were no casualties, so I want you to let them go."
"Shannon-sama... but..."
Shannon also began to say so out of sympathy for Rubes, but Morgus's face remained grim.
He likely sympathized with the plight of Rubes and the others. However, he was a merchant. He could not move on emotional arguments alone. If it were simply that the profit did not balance──── he could get away with being cold-hearted. He would accept being cursed as a money-grubber. But the disadvantages were simply too heavily stacked.
"If you let them go, what will happen?"
Marianne intervened as if to shield Morgus, who could not provide an answer. It was partly because she couldn't bear to watch, and──── for the sake of the blue-sky vision she had drawn.
"Even if you execute just one person, the remaining people will ultimately be unable to escape poverty and will return to the bandit trade, won't they? Letting them go now will only result in other victims."
"That is... true. As a mere merchant, I cannot take responsibility for that."
Morgus nodded at Marianne's words.
That was the sticking point. It would be possible to make a deal by cutting off Rubes like a lizard's tail. However, if Rubes's remaining comrades returned to the bandit trade afterward, the next victims would be fellow merchants.
Of course, in this case, Morgus would not be responsible. He would not be responsible, but there was a possibility that the victims would hold a grudge against him. It would be simple enough if they came for direct revenge, but if it became a retaliation between merchants, the target of the attack would be his credit rather than the man himself.
If that were damaged, Morgus might no longer be able to make a living as a merchant. Coincidentally, like Rubes, he also had family and employees to support, so it was only natural for him to be cautious.
"But it's not just their fault! There are plenty of ways to start over...!"
"That is impossible."
Marianne spoke bluntly in response to Shannon's objection.
"There is a saying that the soul of a three-year-old lasts until a hundred. If a bit of mischief started with 'just this much' or 'just a little' happens to go well and becomes a successful experience even once, it continues until ruin. Besides, do you think the victims would be satisfied if you told them, 'These people are actually good people'? At the very least, if I were in that position, I would slap them and ask, 'With what face are you saying that?'"
It was something that happened often in her previous life. Easy forgiveness is seen as sweetness or weakness and is taken advantage of. Moreover, such a thing would be inevitable given the values of the Middle Ages.
"I could understand if they were children who hadn't reached adulthood. Perhaps something could be done if they were educated. But the personality of an adult that has already hardened does not change so easily. Besides, even if you say they'll start over, do you have a plan?"
"That, is..."
"Emotional arguments without an alternative are nothing more than the postponement of tragedy."
Marianne told Shannon, who was at a loss for words, as if cutting her off, but internally her heart was racing, thinking, 'A beautiful girl's sorrowful face is just wonderful!' This woman was truly faithful to her desires.
"Therefore, you who stand on the brink of ruin have three choices."
The fact that she didn't let that show proved she had a merchant's nature to the core. Marianne stood before the kneeling Rubes and pointed her folding fan at him.
"Be captured quietly and executed, be slaughtered by me here, or──── be reborn with every fiber of your being."
"Reborn...?"
Marianne nodded quietly to Rubes, who looked stunned.
Rubes and the others, the prospector guild and their families, were useful. They were the foundation of the blue-sky vision she drew. Eventually, she would take them back to the Empire, but for now, she needed to test if their value was genuine.
"Yes. But it is not an easy thing. Literally, you will die as prospectors and walk a different path. Depending on the situation, you may even have to leave this country. Do you have that resolve?"
"Is there... such a path...?"
"Yes, if you have that resolve──── I, Marianne Romanette, shall show you the way."
"Marianne Romanette... Romanette!? Could it be, are you a relative of the Romanette Grand Merchant Company of the Leonesta Empire!?"
The one who reacted to that name was not Rubes, but Morgus.
"Oh. You know of us?"
"It's another country, but it's a neighboring one!? Any merchant who doesn't know them is a fraud!"
"That is true. The chairman, Reed Romanette, is my grandfather."
"Not just a relative, but a direct descendant!?"
He seemed to have realized it from his knowledge as a merchant, but he was astonished, as he had not expected her to be the daughter of the Romanette Grand Merchant Company.
She hadn't intended it, but it seemed she had made an impression, Marianne smirked. She felt with her own skin that the way people around her looked at her had changed. They had realized that the spider's thread hanging before their eyes was unexpectedly strong.
In that case, Marianne decided to drive the point home.
"Then let me ask. ────Is there any absurdity you wish to destroy?"
That was the signal for intervention. A signal fire for the counterattack against the absurdity unfolding before their eyes. The trigger for wielding her own ability.
That trigger was entrusted to Rubes.
"There is... there is... we want to live...!!"
And it was pulled.
"Now, then──── shall we talk business?"
The people around her looked at the smiling Marianne as if she were a Holy Mother, but──── if the two idiots currently preparing the soup kitchen had been there, they would have looked on with distant eyes and snapped, 'I can almost hear her hallucinating "just as planned."'
●
That night, a makeshift bath was created at Rubes's base.
A bath. To accommodate a large number of people, it was built in a twenty-meter square area using a combination of stone and wood, and hot water created with water and fire magic was poured in. A partition was set up in the center, separating the men's and women's baths, albeit simply. Since there was no worry of rain, it was a luxurious open-air bath.
"Haa... to think I could take a bath in a place like this..."
Shannon was soaking in the women's bath. With her auburn hair untied and a hand towel in one hand, she soaked up to her shoulders, remembering the events of a few hours ago.
Geoglyph, after finishing the preparations for the soup kitchen and leaving the cooking to Later, had said, 'I can't stand the thought of women and children smelling of sweat, so I'll make one,' and then he dug the earth with magic, cut the stone with magic, filled it with water with magic, and finally heated the water with magic. He had said, 'It's all-magic instead of all-electric,' but everyone had tilted their heads, wondering what that meant.
Furthermore, the bandits were made to handle the partitions and other small details.
Then, after letting everyone in the village get clean, he suggested they feed them with the soup kitchen, change the water once, and then enter themselves. Marianne had passionately invited her to join, but Shannon, for some reason feeling a sense of danger, firmly declined. She decided to enter last, which led to the present.
(Who are they, really? They said they were adventurers, but they don't seem like it. They have family names, too.)
Splashing her face, Shannon lost herself in thought.
(Triad, huh.)
Later aside, Marianne was a Romanette, and Geoglyph even held the family name Triad. Regarding Romanette, she had only heard the name, but she certainly knew of Triad.
Shannon was, for the time being, the daughter of the House of Duke Ilmelta, but she was also a disciple of the prestigious martial house, Centaur. Therefore, she was aware of the noble houses renowned for their military prowess in the neighboring country.
They were the key players who led the war with the Kingdom of Karim sixteen years ago to an end, and she had heard rumors that they had also defeated the Kingdom of Karim in the conflict a month ago.
As a relative of such a house, she had suspected they would possess corresponding strength──── but it was beyond her imagination. Starting with the storage magic shown during the soup kitchen, he had used magic to create this bath. Come to think of it, he had also held a great scythe of light during the attack by Rubes and the others.
It was not difficult to imagine that his companions, Marianne and Later, also possessed corresponding strength.
(If... if their power could be borrowed...)
She might be able to save this country──── no, save Lumilia.
In truth, this was no time to be soaking in a bath in a place like this. She had to find Lumilia as quickly as possible, reach the Radock territory, and correct this country.
However, it was also true that she had no leads for the search. For Shannon, who had been a sheltered daughter, even this journey was her first experience. She was aware that if she rushed out alone without a guide, she might end up going in the completely wrong direction.
(Still, I wonder what they intend to do for business? They even measured my clothing size.)
So, she turned her thoughts to other things to shake off her anxiety.
After that, Marianne had been consulting with Morgus and Rubes about something. She had also been asked for her cooperation and agreed, provided it was until they reached the Radock territory. In fact, Shannon's financial situation was not good. She had sold her knight's armor because she feared her identity would be revealed, and she had used that money to prepare a set of travel gear.
Probably, Morgus had realized Shannon's origin. He had realized it, but he was likely pretending not to notice. If he were a traveling merchant on his own, it would be one thing, but if he had a proper business name, that could be called his greatest concession. That was why he treated her as a mere traveler without questioning her origin.
If that were the case, she herself needed a means of earning. For now, they were headed for the Radock territory, but there was a possibility they would take separate actions if information about Lumilia came in along the way. If that happened, Shannon, with her poor finances, would likely end up destitute again. She knew that she needed a decent amount of earnings now.
That was why she had honestly answered when asked about her clothing size.
(It's a good thing it was evening. If they had checked now...)
The thought of it happening after the sun had set made her shudder.
At that moment, it had been fine, but if her body were examined at this very moment, her secret would be revealed. That would be very bad. It would be fine if they kept quiet, but she didn't have that level of trust yet.
Therefore────.
"Shannon-chan, how is the water temperature?"
"Fwah!?"
Being spoken to from behind by someone who had entered the bath unnoticed, Shannon almost jumped out of the water. However, she hurriedly returned to the tub.
What she saw beyond the steam was a silver-haired girl──── Marianne. Exposing her slender but well-proportioned white naked body without hesitation, she approached the tub with a very cheerful smile. Her movements were strangely smooth, and Shannon felt like a frog facing a snake.
"Eh? Huh? Ah, wait! Marianne-san!?"
Splashing water as she kept her distance by moving along the edge of the tub, Marianne closed in on her at a speed that produced afterimages. Shannon was speechless at the abnormality of her completely ignoring the resistance of the water.
Furthermore.
"Oh my. 'Marianne-san' is so distant. Please call me Marie."
"Hia!? Ah, wait!?"
"Kufufunfu. You have such beautiful skin, don't you? Oh? But your hair is a bit damaged. Do you use treatment? I wonder."
Before she knew it, Marianne had circled behind her and was stroking her hair from the nape of her neck. What is treatment!? Shannon was in the height of confusion.
"What!? What is this!?"
"Isn't it obvious? Between women, it's a naked relationship. This time, there are no children or idiots to get in the way, so I shall make you beautiful, thoroughly and moistly...! Yes! I am by no means lusting after you...! It is pure! Pure goodwill!? A girl must be kept beautiful...!!"
No matter how you looked at it, it was pure malice.
Feeling an indescribable terror at those eyes like a cat that had found a toy, Shannon tried to escape, but she was firmly grabbed and blocked.
"Fwah!? Wait, hold on! Ah, you're so strong!? N-now is no good────!"
"Guhehehe, isn't it fine, isn't it fine──── huh?"
And then, Marianne's hand slid over the groin and touched there.
"Kua wsedrftgy fujikolp!?"
Immediately after, an indescribable scream overlapped and echoed through the open-air bath.
●
"Phew, we finally got a moment to breathe."
"You're right. It looks like we can let them eat solids starting tomorrow."
Turning back time a bit to the two idiots.
Geoglyph and Later, who were cleaning up the cooking area, were taking a breath after a serving process that felt like a battlefield. They had diligently made and fed them easily digestible porridge and soup, taking care not to cause stomach cramps for the time being.
After all, there was no recovery mage (Lilitia) here. Geoglyph could use recovery formulas if he used a trick, but it required a fair amount of consumption, and he didn't want to use it in the current situation where his stock was nearly exhausted.
As a result of observing the situation, they decided that they seemed to have regained some strength and it would be okay to return to normal meals starting tomorrow.
"By the way, where's the princess?"
"She went to the bath."
"...Is that girl okay?"
"Hmm... well, I'm curious too, but she's not Latia, so I guess it's fine. You feel the same, right, Rei?"
Later was momentarily concerned about Shannon's state, but when Geoglyph said that, he nodded, agreeing.
If the opponent were Kazuha, he would have gone to interfere with all his might.
"She said she was going to do some business, but I wonder what it is?"
"Who knows? But it helps that she has some lead. Honestly, at this rate, it seems difficult to even find day labor wherever we go."
"Well, it would be wrong to just abandon them like this..."
They weren't stray dogs or cats, but saying goodbye now would be far too irresponsible. Providing one or two meals wouldn't save them. It was not hard to imagine that they would soon fall into hardship and return to the bandit trade.
Because they understood that, they had left Marianne alone as she moved toward thinking of a solution. Otherwise, they would have kicked her in the rear and told her to help.
It was the moment the two of them sighed in unison, saying they didn't want to help people easily because they knew it would end up like this.
"Kua wsedrftgy fujikolp!?"
A voiceless scream thundered through the village.
"Hey, Sensei. That just now, that fujiko-fujiko-ish scream..."
"That was the voice of Marie and that girl, Shannon. ────Shall we go, just in case?"
"Screaming isn't like her... guess I have no choice."
I mean, why are you (Marianne) the one screaming, the two of them wondered as they moved toward the makeshift open-air bath.
"Marie? What happened?"
"Hey, princess. You okay?"
Since the situation was what it was, they called out before entering the bath area.
"Eh? Wait...!"
There was Shannon, who had stood up from the tub, and Marianne, who remained in the bath in a state of daze.
"Fwah!?"
And so, the two idiots witnessed it. Shannon's naked body──── or more accurately, the thing hanging in the center of her lower abdomen.
"In other words, something, uh..."
"Shannon. You were not Shannon-chan, but Shannon-kun?"
"No! I am... a girl!!"
However, between the legs of Shannon, who appealed with teary eyes, her son (the magnificent one) swayed from side to side, as if denying her with a sigh.